Kedarnath to reopen on May 9

 ​Dehradun: The sacred portals of the Kedarnath temple, a top Himalayan shrine in Uttarakhand, will reopen on May 9 after a gap of nearly six months, officials said on Monday.

The date and timing for the opening was announced on the occasion of Maha Shivratri at Omkareshwar temple, Ukhimath in Rudraprayag district, which is also the winter sojourn of the Kedarnath idols. Amid chanting of vedic hymns and sounds of conches, the priests announced the muhurat.

"The Kedarnath temple will reopen at 5.35 a.m. on May 9," an official of the Badrinath-Kedarnath temples said. 

The muhurat for the reopening of the Badrinath temple has already been announced, which is on May 10.

All the portals of the four shrines - Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - collectively called Chardham, are closed in October-November every year and are reopened in April-May after a gap of six months.